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Saturday, 19 March 2016

Review - 'Daredevil', S02E02 - 'Dogs to a Gunfight'

The
first confrontation between Daredevil and the Punisher, which ended
the previous episode, did a fantastic job of establishing the fact
that these two characters operate on a same level - and, sure, the
'cliffhanger' ending was a bit of an unnecessary flourish (since, of
course, there was never any doubt that Matt would survive), but that
entire action sequence was still very impressive, overall. The first
episode of this season of Daredevil
really didn't waste any time in getting straight to the action - and,
thankfully, the second episode does an admirable job of maintaining
that momentum.

As painful and as
tragic as it was for the characters involved, though, I do have to
admit that there was still an element of morbid humour to be found in
the fact that the second episode of both seasons began in much the
same way - with Matt Murdock being found near-death. Or, at least,
that was the case for me - I suppose the connection was simply a
little too obvious for me to take entirely seriously. It was a
deliberate parallel which did, unfortunately, undermine the drama of
the moment somewhat. Though, that being said, that whole sequence of
Foggy's frantic search, scouring the roof-tops based on his best
educated guess that Matt might need help, was still very well done.
Also, the lingering anger that Foggy displayed toward Matt, once his
concern for his friend had passed, felt very genuine - as well as
being an effective reminder of their brief falling out last season.

Now,
though, Matt finds himself suffering from the lingering after-effects
of his injury. His armoured mask may have been able to stop a bullet,
but it couldn't really do much to prevent the trauma that seems to
have left him with a concussion. With his head injury interfering
with his enhanced sense, Matt finds himself in a uniquely vulnerable
position - even momentarily losing his hearing during a particularly
tense moment. Much like with the previous season, the show's
willingness to commit to details like this is just one of the many
things that makes Daredevil
so genuinely compelling - and, Charlie Cox's ability to display the
right amount of uncertainty and vulnerability, just through body
language, is very impressive.

Foggy and Karen,
meanwhile, find themselves caught up in some fairly classic legal
drama, when their efforts to protect their client, Grotto (McCaleb
Burnett), come up against new complications in the form of District
Attorney Samantha Reyes (Michelle Hurd) - with Reyes insisting that
Grotto will be required to take part in an undercover operation
before she will agree to this placement in a witness protection
program. This entire arc featured some great moments for Foggy
Nelson, as a character, in particular - with Elden Hensen, much as he
did during his best moments throughout the first season, once again
proving that he has more to offer the series than simple
comic-relief.

Karen, meanwhile,
is clearly still feeling some sense of lingering guilt over her role
in the death of the Kingpin's right-hand man, Wesley, in the previous
season - something which seems to be playing on her conscience
especially strongly now that there is a man call 'the Punisher'
working his way through Hell's Kitchen. The Punisher's efforts in
Hell's Kitchen clearly seem to be causing something of an internal
moral conflict for Karen - and, it will be interesting to see how
this plays out.

Regarding the
Punisher, himself, though - this episode also gives the audience its
first proper look at this very dangerous anti-hero. Not only do we
get a second tense confrontation between the Punisher and Daredevil
at the end of the episode but, earlier, we even have an important
scene intended to establish exactly who this man is, for any members
of the audience who might be unfamiliar with him. There was a very
impressive level of tension in that whole, seemingly fairly mundane,
scene of Frank Castle's visit to a pawn-shop. The fact that he was
dealing with sleazy pawn-shop owner who not only clearly wasn't above
dealing in stolen goods, but even had a swastika tattooed on his
neck, created a feeling of tense certainty in exactly how things were
going to end. It was clear from the start that this man was going to
become a victim of the Punisher's harsh brand of justice - it was
really just a matter of revealing how and why. It did feel a bit
contrived to have the pawn-shop owner reveal that he also happened to
have some child pornography for sale just as the Punisher was about
to leave, admittedly. I understand, of course, that this scene was
intended to show-case the very rigid code of morality that Frank
Castle lives by (and, if the intent was the leave the audience with
mixed feelings about this violent vigilante, then the brutal death of
someone who deals in child pornography would be the way to do it) -
but, I suppose I would have preferred for it to be done in a slightly
less manufactured way. Despite my mild disappointment in the way this
whole scene was set-up, though, it is difficult to deny that Jon
Bernthal of establishing the right level of quiet and imposing menace
into his version of Frank Castle.

Once again, though,
it was those moments between Daredevil and the Punisher that were the
episode's true high-light. For the second time, in as many episodes,
we have these two well-known comic-book characters engaged in a tense
and brutal physical confrontation - and, once again, the two seemed
evenly matched. Having them both caught up in the aftermath of
Reyes's planned ambush, and forced to dodge gun-fire while fighting
each other, was also a nice touch. And, of course, Matt's lingering
head injury is not forgotten in those final moments - leading us to
that final moment which sets the scene for the next episode.

With the conflict
between Daredevil and the Punisher featuring so heavily in this new
season's opening episodes, it seems inevitable that something is
going to change between them, fairly soon. Even without knowledge of
what is still to come, gleaned from the show's trailers, it is
difficult to imagine this momentum being maintained for the entire
season. But, it has still been a very tense, and very entertaining,
ride so far - and, with the third episode seemingly set-up to force
that very change in the dynamic between them, I am definitely looking
forward to seeing how things play out.